Sen. Richard J. Durbin

Plastic Pellet Free Waters Act This bill requires the Environmental Protection Agency to issue a final rule that prohibits certain discharges of plastic pellets and other preproduction plastic into waters of the United States.

Military Justice Improvement and Increasing Prevention Act of 2021 This bill modifies the process and policy related to the disposition of charges and convening of courts-martial for certain sexual assault cases and other specified offenses under the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ). Among other elements, the bill provides that the determinations on the preferral, disposition, and referral of charges for specified offenses under the UCMJ must be made by a commissioned officer of the Armed Forces who is designated as a court-martial convening authority (in grade O-6 or higher) and who is available for detail as trial counsel, has significant trial experience, and is outside the chain of command of the member subject to the charges.

International Press Freedom Act of 2021 This bill establishes programs to address international threats to press freedom and allows qualifying threatened journalists to be admitted into the United States. The bill establishes an Office on International Press Freedom within the Department of State. The office's duties shall include (1) advocating for freedom of the press and freedom of expression abroad, (2) advising on U.S. policy on advancing such freedoms abroad, and (3) representing the United States in matters relating to such freedoms. The bill also establishes the At-Risk Journalists Fund. The State Department shall use the fund to support journalists operating in restrictive environments and provide emergency assistance to journalists who have been threatened. If the assistance provided through the fund is insufficient to protect the safety of an alien journalist who has been threatened, the journalist may receive a foreign media nonimmigrant visa upon meeting certain qualifications. The State Department must prioritize the review of a visa application for such a threatened journalist. Similarly, the Department of Homeland Security must consider providing humanitarian parole to threatened journalists and provide an admission preference to certain threatened journalists (generally if the journalist's life or safety is at risk and if paroling the journalist would further U.S. foreign policy or national security interests). The Department of Justice must provide training to all officials adjudicating refugee cases about issues involving freedom of the press. The State Department must also provide training on such issues to certain Foreign Service officers working overseas.

Military Hunger Prevention Act This bill requires the Department of Defense (DOD) to pay a basic needs allowance to certain low-income members of the Armed Forces. Specifically, those eligible for the basic needs allowance are members who (1) have completed initial entry training, (2) have a gross household income that did not exceed an amount equal to 130% of the federal poverty guidelines of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), and (3) do not elect to decline the allowance. In situations where a household contains two or more eligible members, the bill specifies that only one allowance may be paid per year to one member they jointly elect. The amount of the allowance must be the aggregate amount equal to 130% of the HHS federal poverty guidelines minus the gross household income of the covered member during the preceding year divided by 12. The Defense Finance and Accounting Service (DFAS) of DOD must notify, in writing, individuals determined to be eligible for the allowance. The notice must include information regarding financial management and assistance programs administered by DOD for which the individuals are also eligible. Individuals who seek to receive the allowance must submit specified information to DFAS.

Stop Corporate Inversions Act of 2021 This bill revises rules for the taxation of inverted corporations (i.e., U.S. corporations that acquire foreign companies to reincorporate in a foreign jurisdiction with income tax rates lower than the United States). The bill provides that a foreign corporation that acquires the properties of a U.S. corporation or partnership after May 8, 2014, shall be treated as an inverted corporation and thus subject to U.S. taxation if, after such acquisition (1) it holds more than 50% of the stock of the new entity (expanded affiliated group), or (2) the management or control of the new entity occurs primarily within the United States and the new entity has significant domestic business activities.

Rail Passenger Fairness Act This bill authorizes the National Railroad Passenger Corporation (Amtrak) to bring a civil action in a U. S. District Court to enforce its preference rights over freight transportation in using a rail line, junction, or crossing.

Inventor Diversity for Economic Advancement Act of 2021 or the IDEA Act This bill requires the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) to request demographic information from the inventor on each patent application submitted to the USPTO. Inventors shall not be required to provide the requested information, which shall include gender, race, and military or veteran status. The USPTO shall (1) publish an annual public report about the collected data, including the collected data broken down by the types of technology covered by the patent applications; and (2) make the underlying data publicly available.

Coronavirus Housing Counseling Improvement Act This bill authorizes additional housing counseling services provided through the Neighborhood Reinvestment Corporation. Funding priority is given to counseling organizations that target low-income and minority homeowners, renters, individuals experiencing homelessness, and individuals at risk of homelessness.

This resolution condemns Iran's state-sponsored persecution of its Baha'i minority and its continued violation of the international covenants on human rights. Further, it calls on Iran to immediately release all imprisoned or detained Baha'is, and it urges the President and the Department of State to impose sanctions on Iranian officials and others who are responsible for serious human rights abuses, including abuses against Iran's Baha'i community.

Clean Slate for Kids Online Act of 2021 This bill allows individuals over age 13 (or their guardians, if applicable) to request the deletion of information collected from or about them while they were under age 13 by a website or online service that is directed to children. Specifically, the bill requires an operator of such a website or service to provide notice on their website about how an individual over age 13 (or the guardian of an individual over age 13) can request the deletion of all personal information in the operator's possession collected when the individual was under age 13; promptly delete, upon request, all such personal information; and provide written confirmation of deletion. The bill allows a limited exception to the deletion requirement if the personal information collected from or about a child is necessary to (1) respond to a judicial process, or (2) to provide information to law enforcement agencies or for an investigation related to public safety.